An article said that lower-educated individuals in European countries not only had shorter life expectancies but also faced greater uncertainty about the age at which they would die. More priority should be given to efforts to reduce the risk of an early death among lower-educated groups, for example by strengthening protective policies within and outside the healthcare system.
Source: Alyson van Raalte, Anton Kunst, Patrick Deboosere, Mall Leinsalu, Olle Lundberg, Pekka Martikainen, Bjorn Heine Strand, Barbara Artnik, Bogdan Wojtyniak, and Johan Mackenbach, 'More variation in lifespan in lower educated groups: evidence from 10 European countries', International Journal of Epidemiology, Volume 40 Number 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Dec
A paper examined the relationship between education and fertility in European countries. More education caused a substantial decrease in childlessness and an increase in the average number of children per woman.
Source: Margherita Fort, Nicole Schneeweis, and Rudolf Winter-Ebmer, More Schooling, More Children: Compulsory schooling reforms and fertility in Europe, Discussion Paper 6015, Institute for the Study of Labor (Bonn)
Links: Paper
Date: 2011-Oct
An article examined the determinants of fertility rates at the national level of 17 developed (OECD) countries. State policies played a significant role in either helping or hindering fertility levels. Active labour market policies and generous work and family policies encouraged higher fertility rates, while the presence of employment protection legislation hindered the growth of fertility rates.
Source: Allison Rovny, ' Welfare state policy determinants of fertility level: a comparative analysis', Journal of European Social Policy, Volume 21 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Oct
An article examined intergenerational family structures in 9 European countries. The results indicated that certain demographic scenarios might halt or temporarily reverse the trend towards the further vertical extension of family 'constellations'.
Source: Allan Puur, Luule Sakkeus, Asta Poldma, and Anne Herm, 'Intergenerational family constellations in contemporary Europe: evidence from the Generations and Gender Survey', Demographic Research, Volume 25
Date: 2011-Aug
An article examined household structure for 26 of the 27 countries of the post-enlargement European Union. As well as broad indicators of household type, it presented statistics on single-person and extended-family households, and on the households of children and older people. It assessed the extent to which household structure differed between the 'old' and 'new' member states of the EU.
Source: Maria Iacovou and Alexandra Skew, 'Household composition across the new Europe: where do the new member states fit in?', Demographic Research, Volume 25
Date: 2011-Aug
A paper examined reproductive decision-making in Europe. Three factors formed a strong barrier to the realization of fertility desires for many women and couples and often forced them to make a difficult (and unnecessary) choice between a work career and parenthood: policies in many countries remained tailored to the 'male-breadwinner' model; couples in most countries continued to have a very uneven division of household and childcare work; and dominant norms in many countries strongly sustained the traditional (patriarchal) view that women should not work when their children were small.
Source: Tomas Sobotka, Reproductive Decision-Making in a Macro-Micro Perspective (REPRO): Synthesis and policy implications, European Demographic Research Papers 1 (2011), Vienna Institute of Demography
Links: Paper
Date: 2011-Jul
A paper examined the demographic challenges faced by Europe. The European workforce was about to enter a period of fast decline that might hamper Europe's economic progress. The ageing of the population combined with shrinking numbers of working-age people altered the generational contract and would put Europe's welfare systems at risk.
Source: Philippe Fargues, International Migration and Europe s Demographic Challenge, European University Institute (Florence)
Links: Paper
Date: 2011-Jun
The European Union population was projected to increase from 501 million on 1 January 2010 to 525 million in 2035, to peak at 526 million around 2040, and thereafter gradually decline to 517 million in 2060. The share of the population aged 65 and over would rise from 17 per cent in 2010 to 30 per cent in 2060, and those aged 80 and over from 5 per cent to 12 per cent over the same period.
Source: Press release 8 June 2011, Eurostat (European Union)
Links: Eurostat press release
Date: 2011-Jun
A report highlighted the problems in Europe associated with an ageing population, and with birth rates that were below the level needed to dramatically change the balance between young and older people.
Source: Stijn Hoorens, Jack Clift, Laura Staetsky, Barbara Janta, Stephanie Diepeveen, Molly Morgan Jones, and Jonathan Grant, Low Fertility in Europe: Is There Still Reason to Worry?, RAND Corporation
Links: Report | Summary | Rand press release
Date: 2011-Jun
An article examined the effects of economic recessions on fertility in the developed world. In most countries, the recent global recession had brought a decline in the number of births and fertility rates, often marking a sharp halt to the previous decade of rising fertility rates.
Source: Tomas Sobotk, Vegard Skirbekk, and Dimiter Philipov, 'Economic recession and fertility in the developed world', Population and Development Review, Volume 37 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Jun
A report examined the impact of demographic trends on regional and urban development in Europe, including issues such as an ageing population, declining fertility rates, and immigration.
Source: Eva Gerohazi et al., The Impact of European Demographic Trends on Regional and Urban Development: Synthesis report, European Union
Links: Report
Date: 2011-May
An article examined recent fertility trends in European and other developed countries, and the effects of family-friendly policies on fertility. Although these policies did seem to have an impact on fertility, its magnitude was limited.
Source: Olivier Thevenon and Anne Gauthier, 'Family policies in developed countries: a "fertility-booster" with side-effects', Community, Work & Family, Volume 14 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-May
An annual report examined demographic trends within European Union countries.
Source: Demography Report 2010, European Commission
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Apr
An article examined trends in life expectancy in European countries since 1970. All western European countries had shown increases in life expectancy: but the countries of central and eastern Europe, Russia, and other parts of the former Soviet Union had had a very different, and altogether more negative, experience.
Source: David Leon, 'Trends in European life expectancy: a salutary view', International Journal of Epidemiology, Volume 40 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Apr
A paper reviewed studies of reproductive decision-making in Europe. Most of the research supported the idea of a gap between intended and realized family size; and longitudinal surveys clearly showed that many respondents were not able to realize their childbearing intentions.
Source: Tomas Sobotka, Reproductive Decision-Making in a Macro-Micro Perspective (REPRO): Synthesis and policy implications, European Demographic Research Papers 1, Vienna Institute of Demography
Links: Paper
Date: 2011-Mar
An article compared household consumption patterns of the European Union countries and their evolution during the period 1998-2005, in order to see whether there was a general tendency related to recent theories of 'modernization' (according to which modernization produced convergence, equality, and individuation).
Source: Maria Dolores Martin-Lagos Lopez, 'Consumption and modernization in the European Union', European Sociological Review, Volume 27 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Feb
A new textbook examined the different dimensions of the territorial and social order of Europe. It covered a range of issues relating to Europeanization, including: inequality, migration, poverty, population and family, the labour market, and education.
Source: Steffen Mau and Roland Verwiebe, European Societies: Mapping structure and change, Policy Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2011-Jan
